Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) are low-cost, passive “smart” chips or “tags” that can be embedded in or attached to articles, products, and the like to convey information about the product via a scanner. The smart tags are generally small label-like devices with a microchip and a miniature embedded antennae. The tags may be passive or active, the active tags requiring an internal power supply. A reader or scanner interrogates the smart tag with an electronic “trigger” signal. The tag in turn generates an electromagnetic pulse response that is readable by the scanner, the response containing the product information. RFID smart tags can be embedded in or attached to product packaging, or incorporated directly into the product, and may convey conventional “bar code” information, as well as other more detailed information.
Various commercial applications have been suggested for smart tags, particularly in the area of retail marketing and sales. For example, RFID technology may be used to gather information related to consumer trends, purchasing habits, consumption rates, etc. It has also been suggested that RFID technology has promise in the areas of inventory control, manufacturing process and control, product accountability and tracking systems, etc. Manufacturers, shippers, and retailers may be able to follow a given product through their respective systems from initial production through to point of sale. It has been suggested that other applications may include shopping carts that automatically charge a bank account, refrigerators that tap into the Internet to automatically reorder items that are running low, and interactive televisions linked to such refrigerators that will feed targeted commercials and special offers to consumers. (See, “They Know What You Eat,” by Kayte VanScoy, Smart Business, January 2001).
Although RFID technology may provide benefits to the commercial sector, certain individuals may view particular uses of the technology as intrusive and an invasion of privacy. For example, some consumers refuse to use of “loyalty” cards at supermarkets even if a significant discount is offered because they object to the notion that their purchases are being tracked and analyzed. Such consumers may be less than enthused at the possibility that smart chips or tags embedded in their clothing, for example, may disclose their purchasing habits or likes and dislikes when they walk past a smart tag scanner at the entrance of a store. Consumers may object to being selectively targeted by telemarketers or mass mailings based on the smart tagged products they purchased at a store.
The present invention relates to a novel implementation of jamming devices to inhibit unwanted intrusions of RFID technology.